Slowly Giving Up ~Bughead~

Chapter 6

Jughead's POV: I found her. She was laying in the pouring rain, the lightning and thunder. Her hair was in messy curls, just like other times. Her makeup was slightly smudged, but she wasn't wearing as much as Veronica does. Her clothes were muddy, freezing cold, wet, and bloody. She was shaking, asleep. The only part of her hand I could see had black and purple bruises, leaving her beautiful shining skin in bad shape. There was dried blood on her fingernails. Her now replaced bandage on her right hand was no longer neat, but drenched with royal red blood underneath. Barely bleeding through. I knew she didn't fall like she said she did. I don't know what she did, though. But I was going to find out.
I picked her up by her stomach, and a fresh wave of blood streaked down her leg, covering another opening of her soft skin. She was bleeding all over, and I had no choice. I had to take her to the film room. There'd be an excuse. There'd have to be.
When I opened the door, I rushed over to my bed, and sat her gently on it. I went to the corner drawer where I kept my bandages in case of incidents like this. I picked up two, one for her leg and one for her arm.
I walked over to her, and sat to where I could examine her face perfectly. She had another little cut on the right corner of her forehead. A trickle of blood was about to go on her sweater, but I stopped it. I looked at her face, and cleaned her makeup off. She didn't need it, but she wore it. After her makeup was all off, I dabbed the blood on her head and covered it with a miniature bandage. I then moved to her arm.
I had no idea what she had done, so I slowly took the bandage off of her hand. She slightly winced at the pain, but I got it off. Lying there, with blood, and cuts everywhere, the last thing I'd expected from Betty Cooper was to clearly punch someone. I cleaned her hand with water to get the dry blood off, and then I re-bandaged the whole hand.
Moving to her wrist, I was scared what was under the bloodiest bandage. I took it off gently, making sure not to wake her. When I got it off, tears formed in my eyes. She had two cuts, lined up to one another. They were still bleeding freshly, so I quickly put pressure on it. After a few minutes, I took it off. It had gotten better, but the blood was still pink. I re-bandaged it also, causing me to get another bandage.
Her leg was the last part, but not the worst. It looked like a rock had cut her thigh, causing a blood trail from the top to bottom. I wiped it up carefully, then looked for a rock or glass in the cut. I found nothing, so I bandaged the last cut.
Her clothes weren't bad, accept for the bottom of her shirt. She would have to wash it to get the stains all out. I wasn't going to wake her, so I quietly made a bed for myself on the floor. I've dealt with worse.
I found myself thinking about her cutting. She has an amazing life, so why would she? It makes me tear up just thinking about it. If I'd lost her, I wouldn't be the same. She and Archie are the only ones who keep me sane. But Betty gives me the hope, that the world isn't all that bad.
          Betty's POV: I woke up to pain everywhere. As my eyes barely opened, these weren't my sheets. They were blue, and plaid. Mine were pink, and had flowers on them. I quickly sat up, and felt pain on my head. I felt, and there was a bandage. I had fresh bandages all over. Even on my wrist...someone had seen it. I got up and saw Jughead asleep on the floor. I turned on my phones camera, and saw myself. My makeup was off, and I did have a bandage. My hair was still a mess, but not bad. My leg must have gotten hurt, too. All I remember is running..and then I fell. That's when it all went black. Everything after that is a huge blur.
          I heard a sigh, and then saw Jughead move. He looked at me, in my still bloody clothes. "You're awake." He said. "Yeah, I guess I am." It was awkward silence after that... until I found my words. "I am so so so sorry you had to do all of this for me, Juggie." I pleaded. "It's fine." He got up. "I found you laying in the grass...unconscious. You were bleeding, and I carried you here. Bandaged you up." I smiled at him. "Thank you, Juggie. Like I said the other day. Stress makes me do crazy things." I said.  I looked around and realized we slept in a film room. The film room that was my favorite place besides Pop's. "Do you always sleep here, Juggie?!" I asked. He had a worried look on his face. "I kind of don't want to sleep at home. My dads on the alcoholic side. So, my mom took my sister and ran away". Hearing his shortened version of his home story made me sad. He's had a lot going on, and I wasn't there for him. "Juggie, you can tell me anything and I'll help as much as I can." I said. He lightly smiled at me. "You won't be able to if you kill your self." He said coldly. "Juggie, I don't know what to tell you...I'm sorry." He looked disappointed in me. "You could have told me. Anyone. And you could be getting help, Betty. I don't care who. It could be anyone from school. Me. Archie. Veronica. I can't lose you." I then clicked. "School! Oh my gosh, school! We have to go!" I said headed for the door. I looked back at him. "Are you coming, or not?" I asked. "I'm already ready. We can stop by your house on the way so you can get clothes." He said. I smiled one last time, and walked out the door.

But still, it was just the beginning.